It’s been one amazing year at Maidenhead Bridge Rotary Club with hundreds of zombies, rabbits, reindeer and health checks being just some of the many activities the club has been involved with.

On Saturday the club celebrated the end of the Rotary year with a picnic in the sunshine. And there was a lot to celebrate as the group of young professionals and volunteers have somehow managed to fit in 145 events over the last 12 months ranging from hands-on volunteering such as supporting FoodShare, to socials including walks in the countryside and plenty of pub visits, to fundraising for local and international charities, to networking!

Outgoing Club President Adam Hunter had set some pretty high goals for his year, but he also wanted all members to have fun and make new friends, which was most definitely achieved!

One of the clubs key events of the year was a Health Awareness Day in January, giving advice to local Maidonians about blood pressure, healthy hearts, diabetes etc with the support of professional organisations. On that day alone over 110 people had their blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels checked, 21 people were advised to visit their GP within a month, five were advised to visit their GP within a week and two were advised to visit a hospital immediately. This just proves the value of that day, potentially saving people’s lives.

The club has also enjoyed organising the annual Reindeer Racing event in the Nicholson Centre before Christmas, supporting Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, the 5th annual Easter Family Fun Day in Grenfell Park, Maidenhead Art Jam, assisting with the annual Zombie Walk and many, many other events.

At the start of the year on July 1st 2015, the club set the goal of 1400 hands-on volunteer hours, and by the end of June the enthusiastic club had well and truly smashed this goal, reaching 1,505 hours! It’s not all been about volunteering our time, as club they have also raised over £6,000 for a variety of local, national and international charities.

Maidenhead Bridge Rotary has welcomed 9 new members to the club over the last 12 months, all of them have got stuck into volunteering and the club is proud to have them in their fold. Members of the group are young professionals, volunteers and people with young families, from all walks of life with ages ranging from 22 to 55.

As out-going Club President, Adam Hunter, handed the Presidency of the Club over to Victoria Williams he commented “the members of our club are an amazing group of people; they have inspired me and motivated me. They’ve followed me when I’ve asked and supported numerous charities and volunteer projects. I could not have asked for a better group of friends and I have had an amazing year leading the group. It has been great fun.”

“I know Victoria is going to do an amazing job with passion, ease and take our club into the next chapter of its life. I wish her all the best and hope she has as much fun as I have.” Adam continued.